Tygerberg Hospital

Tygerberg Hospital is a tertiary hospital located in Parow, Cape Town. The hospital was officially opened in 1976 and is the largest hospital in the Western Cape and the second largest hospital in South Africa. It acts as a teaching hospital in conjunction with the University of Stellenbosch's Health Science Faculty Mission This Hospital strives to provide affordable world class quality health care to public and private patients within available resources, as well as excellent educational and research opportunities. It wants to be recognised as the best academic hospital in Africa, recognised for its world class health care service locally, nationally and internationally. Tygerberg Hospital held a special long-service awards ceremony for employees who have been employed by the Western Cape Government for the past 20, 30, and 40 years on 24 October 2012. Five hundred and seventy-seven (577) employees received certificates and were honoured for their uninterrupted and devoted public service. The event was held at Moyo, Spier outside Stellenbosch. Ms Aletta du Toit, a Chief Radiographer at the hospital, has been imaging patients for 42 years. She started her career at Karl Bremer Hospital when Tygerberg Hospital was still being built. In 1973 she started working at Tygerberg Hospital. The highlight of her career was when she was transferred from the Diagnostic Department to the Department of Nuclear Medicine. It enabled her to further her career. What Ms Du Toit finds the most rewarding about her work in the nuclear department is the feedback from the patients, with whom she works for a length of time. She is very glad to make a difference to people’s lives: “I want to encourage young people out there to consider Tygerberg Hospital as a workplace of choice, because the hospital offers a number of training opportunities for professionals.” Ms Johanna Wynand, a General Assistant who is 61 years old, was very young when she started working at Tygerberg Hospital’s hostel. Her advice to young staff members: “Please look after your work, and listen to your supervisor.” She enjoys her work at Tygerberg Hospital. Western Cape Minister of Health, Theuns Botha, said: “So many years of their lives in the service of the Department of Health stands testimony to commitment and loyalty. Our Department is fortunate to have employees who work for us for so many years. It brings consistency into the workplace. I can only say thank you. The Tygerberg Children's Hospital was opened in March 2000, after a start had been made to combine all services for children in the C Block. There are 308 childrens beds. Tygerberg Children's Hospital (TCH) mostly serves the poor community within its geographical area. It is more or less half of the 2,4 million children living in the Western Cape who need specialist medical care. Specialist care is offered to areas of the Northern and Eastern Cape, and Tygerberg Children's Hospital support paediatric care in other African countries. Every year, approximately 16 000 babies and children are admitted to TCH and more than 100 000 children receive specialist medical care as outpatients. TCH serves as the academic hospital for the University of Stellenbosch, the University of the Western Cape and other tertiary institutions, as well as the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. Clinical research into diseases affecting children in South Africa, such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and cancer, as well as the management of neonatal diseases, is also a focus of our work at this hospital. In order to make the most of the delivery of the entire spectrum of quality child health care to our mostly poor community, TCH is currently being restructured and upgraded from funds received through the TCH Trust. The result of this development project will be a child and parent friendly environment in an independent children's hospital. TCH will work as a functional unit, specifically dedicated to the needs of children and newborn babies, within Tygerberg Academic Hospital.